No Strings Attached

1

I bent down, grumbling as I tried to quickly lace up my high top converse, something that I was realizing was an impossible task. I had woken up late that morning, and was rushing to get ready. Finally, I finished and bounded down the hardwood stairs to meet my dad in the foyer.

"Okay, you ready for your first day of your junior year?" My dad asked me he handed me my backpack. I gratefully accepted it and slung one strap over my shoulder.

I shrugged, trying to play off the nerves I was surprised I had. I didn't usually have, since I knew I wasn't trying to impress anyone, but I felt weird and jittery that morning. "As ready as I'll ever be." I brushed my hands over my black skinny jeans and adjusted my white and navy striped shirt, then my jean jacket.

"That's my girl," he said, grinning and pressing a kiss to my forehead. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug before walking out the door. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" He called, but I waved him off again.

"No, you have to work. I'll take the bus, don't worry!" I responded, and he sighed.

"Alright, have fun!" He called, and I looked over my shoulder to give him a small smile as he closed the door.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled my jacket around me tighter and walked down to the end of the block to reach the bus stop. It was foggy in San Francisco that morning, and the cold, while not as bad as Pennsylvania's, permeated deep into my bones and chilled my entire body. I breathed out into the fog, my white breath mingling with the cold air in a slow dance in the early morning. I closed my eyes and longed for the warm Florida air, where we had lived before Pennsylvania. Before Florida, it had been Oregon, before then; Illinois, Georgia, and Texas.

I sighed, shuffling in my feet as I finally reached the bus stop and waited for the next bus on the route to come. I checked my phone, seeing one message from a sort-of friend I used to have at my last school.

Casey: What the hell? Jackson told me you left? Why didn't you tell me?

Then, there was another message, delivered minutes later.

Casey: I miss you.

I felt a dull ache in my heart and sighed before deleting the messages and closing my phone. After a second, I unlocked my phone and deleted her number as well. I knew that befriending her would have worked out negatively. I was unsure why I had still done it in the first place.

I slid my phone back into my pocket to see the bus rounding the corner. It stopped in front of me, the doors folding open, and I gratefully stepped inside, welcoming the change in temperature and slipping a dollar into a machine to pay for my fee. "Good morning," the driver grumbled, and I nodded in response as he pulled a lever to swing the doors shut.

"Wait!" I heard someone call in a desperate voice, and I furrowed my eyebrows. The bus driver didn't seem to be paying any attention as he started to put the bus into drive, and I looked around for the source of sound. Peering out the window, I saw a girl frantically waving her hands as she ran down the street toward the bus. Her hair was a mess, and she was holding a half eaten pastry in her hand as her backpack thumped against her back while she ran. "Wait!" she called again, now louder because she was there.

The bus slowly began to pull away, but I cleared my throat, still standing in the front. "Erm, hello?" I said, trying to catch the driver's attention. He turned toward me with a pointed look, his foot on the brake as he finally looked at me.

"What, kid? Are you gonna sit down, or do you want to have a gossip session right now?" He asked sarcastically, and I blinked, taken aback by his rudeness.

"Uh, no, I-" I started, before clearing my throat and starting again, this time with more confidence. "There's a girl outside the bus," I said, gesturing to the girl who had now made it to the bus stop. "Let her on," I continued, before adding. "Please," I said, and the driver looked at me for a second before opening the doors.

The girl burst onto the bus after watching our exchange behind the clear door, jogging up the steps. "Oh my god, thank you so much. You just totally saved my ass," she said as she paid her fee, the bus starting to roll away for good. The driver grumbled again, but I ignored him as I gave her a small, polite smile and made my way to a bus seat, looking out the window.

Seconds later, I felt someone plop down next to me and looked over to see her there again as she placed her backpack on the floor. "Oh, no one's sitting here are they?" she asked when I gave her a confused and slightly uncomfortable look, but I shook my head. "Alright, great. Thanks again for getting him to stop the bus. This guy's pretty strict," she said, exuding confidence and cheer as she pulled her wavy brown hair back into a ponytail. "I'm Naomi," she continued, unfazed by my less than stellar reaction to her sitting next to me.

"Lucy," I responded curtly, and she gave a wide smile.

"That's such a pretty name! I have a cousin named Lucy, but she's like three. You wouldn't know her," she mused. I bit my lip, slightly amused by her side-tracked thought. "Anyway, I haven't seen you around before," she said, then added as an afterthought, "Well, I guess San Francisco is a big city, but this bus is only really taken by a few people, and when I take it, I see 'em and know 'em all. Are you new here?"

"Yeah," I said. I limited myself to another short response, even though I didn't want to. She was too nice and too friendly, and if I had been staying around here, I would have accepted her friendship happily. But, I reminded myself, I probably won't be around here long. It's better this way.

"Oh cool, where are you from?"

"Pennsylvania," I answered. She was asking so many questions. It felt like an interrogation.

"Nice, I've never been," she commented. "And are you going to the Bellinger School?" I nodded. "Oh awesome! I go there too," she exclaimed, and I gave her a small smile. Suddenly, I kind of wished I hadn't asked to let her on the bus.

"Cool."

After that she started talking to me about the school, the people and the teachers. Seeing as I didn't really care, or want to know, I tuned her out, though I pretended to be listening as I nodded occasionally and sent a smile or two her way.

"Oh, hey, here we are," she said to me, and pulled me up with her. I blinked, surprised, and pretended I had been paying attention the entire time.

I followed her out of the bus, saying goodbye to the driver with a simple, "Thank you." He nodded in response, and we headed out to the front lawn of the school.

"So, welcome to Bellinger," she said as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, thanks," I said distractedly as I started to speed up my walking, attempting to distance myself from her. Instead, she sped up as well, pushing the front door to the school open in time with my own actions.

"Okay, well have a good first day," she said cheerfully as I walked away. "See you later!" I raised my eyebrows as I gave her a small wave and entered the doors of my new high school for the first time, believing I was ready to face whatever would await me.

Hey guys!! Welcome to my new story! Just wanted to clarify a few things:

1) Lucy is not a mean person, this is part of her just not wanting to make any attachments.

2) Bellinger is not a real high school in San Francisco, I just made it up, but a lot of things about San Francisco in this story are true!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. More to come soon!